“Style anthropology can explicate a lot of otherwise tricky issues, in some cultures probably more than others. Sort of Like Water For Chocolate, only Weejuns...” LPC

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Fleetwood Mac $6.50

I saw a ton of great bands during my junior high and high school years but only a few ticket stubs escaped my mom's house cleaning and my numerous moves through the years. I just enjoyed a really nice but hazy walk down memory lane a moment ago-fueled by these stubs. I think TicketMaster and other resellers should be jailed for the markup they foist upon the public these days.

When I was a teenager someone with a reliable car or someone's mom would go to the venue and buy the tickets for face value and we'd gladly pay up as well as volunteer to pay for gas money or whatever. As long as we got to the venue on time. I was repulsed by all of the cannibis and essentially held my breath when amidst the smoke and haze of such agents-focusing on the bands and the excitement of seeing live performances with minimal props/pyrotechnics.

My first concert ever. B.B.'s mom drove us to Columbia and with one of her neighbor ladies-attended the concert with the six of us. I think B.B. was embarrassed to death. I couldn't have cared less because the whole time we are sitting there I'm not believing that Chuck Negron is right in front of me singing all of the cool Three Dog Night stuff that I played at home on my mom's big ass piece-of-furniture stereo while banging a set of Slingerlands. Wow...after uploading this picture-I see that within a year of me being at the Three Dog Night concert, my mother would be a widow.

Rode to the Allman Brothers concert in J.S.'s Vega. Chevy Vega yep. Not a Cosworth like Toad had but hey-it was a free ride to the concert. I think that Andrew Gold....was it Gold who sang "Oh What a Lonely Boy" or something like that? He opened for the Brothers Allman. My ears are still ringing from this one. What's a Quaalude?

The Doobies-no Michael McDonald performing on October 17, 1985...it was the original bunch...it was good. I played my drums on Doobies songs a lot at home because most of the songs were three or four chords and the beats were white boy friendly. J.H. had a nice car-a new one I think. Her dad was a big money fat cat lawyer in my town so D.N. and I hitched a ride with J.H. and L.M. It was established from the get-go that it was a platonic thang and that they were glad to give us a ride in order to get some help with gas money. I'm just gonna tell you right now that the platonic thang fell through when J.H. started playing with my hair. J.H. ... the girl ... the girl who owned the car. The onliest thing I was guilty of was giving in to her advances. I had big hair-all blow dried up in a 1970's kind of a way.

I got permission to drive to the beach for August 1976 Doobie show. I was dating H.C. at the time and her parents had a place at the beach. We were forbidden to go there...I think her parents thought that if we were in a beach house unsupervised that something might happen. I was a boy on a mission in spite of the admonishment. I mean come on-I'm in to this thang for eight dollars and fifty cents times two plus other expenses.

We were staying at another house where parents were present but somehow-I don't know-it just happened...we ended up at her parent's beach house. Told the other parents we were driving home or something. I mean I didn't say that to the parents-H.C. did. I'd a never done anything like that. She produced the hidden key and I was literally forced inside her parents' beach house. All would have ended well but somehow a pair of my tightie-whities fell out of my duffel bag the next day before we left and her dad found them the next weekend. The picture above is from this approximate time in Mr. Tightie Whitie's journey. He used to burn out a blow dryer every six months getting the curl out of that head of Bee Gees disco hair. Shut up. He wishes he still had that hair.

Z.Z. Top at six bucks and change. Not sure where I came up with all the dough and for the life of me I can't remember how I got to and from this one. What I do remember is that there was one cardboard cactus prop on stage and nothing else but a bunch of strong Texas tonk. The fact that Styx opened for them was laughable.

I get a call from G.S. on Friday morning. He has two Skynyrd tickets and no ride. Three Pony Packs of Miller in the cooler. An old blue V.W. Beetle that I was driving that summer-half a tank of gas and we are good to go. I got pulled on the way back to our town that night-prolly three in the morning. But for the grace of God and my Uncle Doug...my father's younger brother-the one who bought me all of the delightfully inappropriate guns and stuff when I was a little kid. Thanks Uncle Doug for not telling my mama.

I'd really cleaned up my act by the time Fleetwood Mac rolled into town. I went with a few guys from the track team. Athletics is a character builder and for this little misguided teenager who'd lost his dad, Cross Country and Track literally saved me-gave me a new identity. This tour accompanied the release of the Rumors album. Stevie Nicks was probably in her mid twenties back then. She didn't even notice me.

The Eagles...Hotel California tour at almost nine bucks. One of the best concerts I've ever seen...not on par with Paul McCartney and Wings-The Rolling Stones-Eric Clapton but close. J.T. and I went over to Columbia for this one and I can remember eating about ten Slim Jims on the way home.

I agree that the price of concert tickets these days has gotten a little out of hand (though I'm not enough of an economist to translate 1975 prices to today's). An interesting article in the WSJ this past August, which coincided with the Woodstock 40th anniversary, however, pointed out that the music industry's strategy today has been completely inverted relative to the '60s and '70s. Back then, the money was to be made by selling the album- the tour would be done at cost to promote it. Now, with CD sales plummeting, the money is in the concert itself. The idea of a money making tour then was unheard of (although one wonders if they hadn't smashed all of those hotel rooms...)

James/Toad...I figured y'all would land on this post rather quickly. Toad...I was too little to remember the Beatles debut but my mom had nine older brothers and sisters so I had scores of older cousins that were going gaga over the beatles.

Anonymous...I hear you and agree with everything you've posited. My gripe is that the artists are just as pissed off at the resellers as the concert goers are. The absurdly inflated prices aren't lining the artists' pockets.

Can't wait to read your post. We must have been on the same circuits. Three Dog was maybe my first. That or ZZ Top. Steely Dan used to come all the time and I never went. What was I thinking. At that price Fleetwood Mac must have been pre buckingham/nicks. You've got a Dukes of Hazzard look. Where's Daisy?

ackred....thanks man. Glad that you and your wife are still together. Meeting mine ended up being one breathtakingly ass expensive trip to the grocery store(where I met her)

LongThang...Ditto on Steely Dan. Then my almost ten year younger brother comes along and he's seen them 3-4 times. Nicks and Buckingham were there indeed. Daisy Duke...wouldn't have given me the time of day.

Memory Lane is always a nice place to visit and what a trip you've had. My most memorable concert was a Def Leppard concert - it rained and rained and rained but I was happy because I was there with the hair and the torn jeans and the girl I thought I'd be with forever. Well, I still have the hair, lost the jean years ago and the girl too.

On that same tour The Mac played the old, old Charlotte Coliseum (Cricket Arena now) on Independence Blvd. They were observed by a friend chowing down, as dining would be too pretentious a term for the venue, at Laura's Rozzelle House Inn some 10 - 15 miles NW of Charlotte. Laura's was an old wooden two story house, near the crossing of the Catawba River (Lake Norman) by NC Hwy 16, which served honkified soul food. Civil War Federal Cavalry bullet holes could be seen in the side of the building until it burned in 1990. A seemingly odd choice for a doped up traveling rock band. I think they were still using a station wagon a year before Rumours. Buckingham-Nicks joined about '75.

Heavy Tweed...AND when I ate the ten Slim Jims I had long since given up smoking anything that might have fueled such a quest for salt/fat/calories. Now where the hell is your blog?

DAG...be lucky that you have the hair. If you find any of mine-let me know.

Ta'er...Man, that evokes memories of Charlotte when I was a kid. I remember staying with my cousins one night when I was a little tyke while my mama went to the Coliseum on Independence Blvd to see....Elvis. I think I saw Elton John there in the mid '80's?

Tintin and I speculate wildly about you-much I'm sure-to your pleasure. We know that with your level of sartorial erudition and way with words that you are probably some kind of former clothing industry operative. However, we also allow the fact that due to the subrosa/anonymous existence afforded by the internet that you could just as well be a 63 year old Samoan woman-double amputee-living in a hut somewhere in the Pacific. Or in a trailer in Waxhaw. Either way-it's nice to hear from you.

Summer, ...oops. I did it in January of 81. I believe the beer had gone up to $1 by then. I also participated in a dance ("jitterbug") contest at DV and won several dollars in gift certificates. I seem to recall most of it was consumed in liquid form.

what a stroll down memory lane! Saw the Eagles in 1976/San Antonio, Doobie Bros in late 70's/Austin and The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Z.Z. Top were the opening acts for The Rolling Stones 1981/Houston. The Stones ticket was $18.00 (!!!!) and I almost choked but ponied up the $$$.You're right about the 'haze' - so thick I'm surprised we could see the stage.